Allison Lawton: Rotorua to compete with Auckland for growth

Rotorua has seen sustained economic growth for the last 18 months. Photo/File

This week I want to explore regional focus - what does it mean and how does this impact on how businesses operate?

The fantastic news is Rotorua has seen sustained economic growth for the last 18 months which means we are experiencing real growth.

Our GDP, which measures the size of our economy, has grown by 3.1 per cent for the year end March 2017 and at this same period is ahead of the national average which was 2.9 per cent.

But for Rotorua to keep growing it is important we get our fair share of the economic wealth generated by our city.

To be honest, I was naive as I assumed we got the lion's share of the economic wealth we generated through our taxes such as GST, PAYE etc. How wrong was I! Very wrong as it turns out.

To understand where the spend is going we need only look to Auckland, where billions of dollars are being invested in infrastructure - roading, rail etc.

Having lived there for a time I totally understand the frustration of sitting in your car on the motorway, moving at a snail's pace because of traffic congestion, and as one report outlined the productivity loss is in the billions.

And again, I understand we need first world cities with first world amenities and go Auckland!

However, it should not be at the expense of our city.

We only need to look around and see the lack of infrastructure we have i.e. the eastern corridor needs $60 million to complete the four lanes from Iles Rd to the airport.

This is critical work that we need to continue growing our city as it will assist in unlocking land for housing and developing potential new industries in and around the airport.

This investment, rightfully, should be funded from the economic activity our city has generated, and wholly funded through the New Zealand Transport Agency programme.

This is one example of public money that our city should be entitled to.

I am not saying we should receive 100 per cent of the taxes we have generated, but it would be nice to understand a) how much revenue is being generated and b) how much of this revenue is being reinvested back into the Rotorua economy.

Vote for a government who is committed to bringing focus and strength to regional development.

Allison Lawton is the chief executive of the Rotorua Chamber of Commerce